the first chinese american mayor ever. and the wholehearted support of supervisors, and for harmony, and new achievements in overall development. especially in his relationship with china. well, i wish everyone happy, healthy and professed year of serpent. thank you. >> i am ethnically chinese but culturally southeast asian, let me greet you in from my region. i come from the country of the little lion, singapore. and having just come from india

immediately before this posting, let me also wish you amos dei. mr. mayor, and madam supervisors, congratulations on everything that san francisco has achieved. especially the openness and diversity. so as not to keep everyone from the rest of the ceremony, and the enjoyment that awaits. let me only say that i am very, very honored to be in the presence, not only of leaders elected and appointed. but serpent leaders. and i want to take this opportunity in the new year to wish you success in every good endeavor undertaken by the city. and abundance of all good things, overflowing to the lives of those whom you touch in your

service. and prosperity from the soul and from the heart into what is tangible and material. so with that, let me thank you once again for this opportunity to wish you all a very happy, successful and prosperous new year. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much, and as we close, i want to have a special thank you to claudia ching, of course without her tireless effort, we wouldn't be here. give her a big round of applause. and to everyone we wish you a very happy new year [speaking foreign language] please join us for refreshments.

.... >> >> i am here to tell you that one billion rising is the biggest global action on the planet for ending violence against women and girls. today in 203 country, one billion rising is dancing up the will of the world to end violence against women and girls once and for all. we have expanded our list that the u.n. recognized of countries, and how your response has been through this call. together we will make it so that this issue is never marginalized again. san francisco, you have been rising all day long. from dancing across the golden

gate bridge this morning. the dancers who were just here now at grace cathedral. and thank you grace cathedral for welcoming us. and elrio will be dancing all night long. what better place to rise and here at city hall on valentine's day and all the elected officials and leaders, all of the women of anti-violence leaders who are here, and are doing this work everyday alongside of you. thank you, san francisco rising. v-day is a welcome place and i spoke to the representative from congo. and i want to thank every person in the mayor's office and the

d.a.'s department and every single agency that works on this issue every day. from the bottom of my heart, and eve sends her love as well. you have made this happen. on that note i would like to welcome mayor edwin lee. thank you. >> all right, how are y'all doing? well, anita and i came together to join vascone and the fabulous fablioa, isn't she fabulous. and david chu and all the board of supervisors are here, and the committee on the status of women. and the president and susan swan, give them a great hand for

organizing v-day in san francisco. we support the one billion rising because it empowers the rise of women, girls and all the residents of san francisco to take a stand against violence in our home, in our city and throughout the world. and just think, if women were equally included in decision-making around the world, there would be no economic disaster throughout the world. so today as part of dancing and part of celebrating, but the important message that we all stand united together. to take the pledge to end violence against women and girls for good.

so let's do this together, are you ready for the pledge? all right. i just wanted to get you ready. we will be back in a very short second for this pledge. i have to listen to the women on this stage. >> you better, mr. mayor. san francisco are we ready? are we rising? let's show the world that san francisco can be counted on. just think about it for a moment. one out of every three women will be sexually abused or assaulted in their lifetime. that has to stop. and we here in san francisco are

going to show no tolerance for abuse against young girls and women. are we ready? are we rising? i have to take a moment to thank some people. first i want to thank my beautiful wife. who is just an incredible woman. she's the anchor in my life and someone that i appreciate so dearly. and i want to thank you very much for everything you do. and for your commitment to ending violence against women. i also want to thank mayor lee, because when he was approached with the idea of doing this. he immediately said yes. thank you, mayor lee. and thank you to the lee family. i want to thank the organizers who very early on came together and said, san francisco will stand out and be counted. and i want to thank our board of supervisors. i want to thank people on my

staff, specifically rebecca prozam. when i said rebecca, we have to help get this going, and she said no problem. where is rebecca? raise your hand. give her a round of applause. i guess we are ready to move on. and what i ask for all of you, when i dance, do not laugh. because i am a horrible dancer. let's go on with the program. david, i will ask the president of the board of supervisors, david chui. >> we have anyone here ready to be a part of revolution? we have anyone ready to rise? are we here to say no to violence against women and children? on behalf of the board of supervisors, i want to say happy valentine's day and v-day.

thank you for being a part of our city of love. in 1967 san francisco started the city of love. and in 2004 san francisco stood up and said that our couples lgbt should marry. and today we are saying it again, we are a city that shows we know how to love. and real love does not involve violence against women, and against girls or against children. i want to also take a moment and give a shout-out to the men, the vagina friendly warriors standing here with you. thank you for being here. and i want to take a moment of reflection. 12 years ago there was an immigrant woman named clair tempongko, who was

brutally murdered. and i want to thank you the domestic violence committee that came together and said no, we must come together. our work is not done. let me tell you that the latest report shows that our domestic violence centers 29% more calls. and our district attorney has had prosecute 88 more cases in the last two years. and i want to thank my colleagues to the board of supervisors, this week we voted to put in more money to the domestic violence work. thank you, colleagues. in closing, this past month we celebrated the 50th anniversary of martin luther king's i had a dream speech.

and we all have a dream. look around you, we represent the diversity not just of san francisco but the world. and we have a dream that some day that every woman and child in this world won't have to wor about violence. we will take care of our children. and this is a dream that if we all rise, not just san franciscans but one billion citizens around the world. thank you for being here. >> hello, san francisco! i have a voice. so i am rising. my voice can save a life. can your voice save a life? imagine if each voice could save a life. we can't do it alone. but as our entire city. we have so many innovative programs in san francisco. it takes the commitment of our

mayor and district attorney and the law enforcement. thank you to the board of supervisors for the additional funds so that the agencies can serve all the women that need help in san francisco. can i hear a voice standing up for women. san francisco serves the world, we provide services to 165 languages. women are turned away because we don't have the funding. so thank you for the funding, board of supervisor. and san francisco has received funds from the federal government. president obama has recognized the great effort that san francisco has started and want to continue.

so we can eradicate violence here in san francisco and start a global movement. everyone here is touched by domestic violence. if you say you don't know, it may be your co-worker. or your sister that doesn't want to speak out. it could be your mother or grandmother. i do this in memory of a fellow co-worker, laura sweat, who was murdered by her husband. and in that moment two young children were left without a mother. i do this in her memory and in hope that the world will see no more violence. thank you for joining one billion rising. you have the power to save lives. [applause] thank you, julie chu, from the

commission of women. there are vaginas around? i am marily mondejar. i am one of the organizers of the event tonight. and i am a survivor of domestic violence. i rise tonight because when i was 22 years old i did not know that i could leave my abusive marriage. i rise tonight because when i was 26 years old i did not know that there were countless other women suffering like me. i rise tonight because i did not know that my children and i could have a life without fear and violence. i rise tonight because it took me many, many years with the help of community members before i was able to tell anyone about the violence and to ask for

help. i rise tonight because tonight i know that what happened to me was not my fault. [applause] i demand tonight and every night that we as a community of loving and caring people speak up and extend help when we see or hear about violence against women and girls. i demand tonight and every night that we as a community, we as a community of loud and strong activists will shout enough. enough. stop the violence now. i demand tonight and every night that we as a community confront a problem such as violence against women with continuous and rigorous analysis of existing protocols with creative thinking and with courage to introduce new paradigms like

what eve and v-day has done today with one billion rising worldwide. an action that has shifted our consciousness about violence against women and girls. i demand tonight and every night that a community of mothers and fathers and aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas and sons and daughters and friends, that we create a true change and stand together with women and girls of san francisco. and i dance tonight in the memory of claire joyce tempongko, a 28-year-old filipino woman that was murdered in front of her two young children. and i dance tonight in memory of terance casko that was beat by her iraq boyfriend on her birthday because she wanted to leave her abusive marriage. i dance tonight in memory of marisa who was stabbed to death

by her husband, after he completed his battered program. and i dance for nicole who was abused by marines. i ask you to dance with me and say no to domestleic violence a to rape crimes, and to say no to human trafficking. and tonight for every victim and survivor here in san francisco. but most importantly, let us dance tonight for those who still need to find the courage to leave abusive relationships and seek help. and i will keep rising and i hope you do, and i will keep demanding. and i will keep dancing until every woman and girl in san francisco can live free and

clear of violence. say it with me. i rise. thank you. >> there are so many cases, and many that occur in the world. one out of three will be raped and abused. one billion women dancing is for revolution. and we have men here, thank you. one billion rising is a global call to action. and one billion rising is a celebration. this is how we celebrate the help that all of those women can receive from all of us. we can do something and we can only do it together. right now i am going to introduce janice. she's a missionary. she's an activist.

she's a leader and she's a poet. she will read a poem from eve ensler. who started with this movement, she started collecting situations, and experiences. and memories of so many women around the world and she created the vagina monologues, and that led to this. >> thank you. hey, you are beautiful. this is a beautiful, beautiful billion rising voices. one billion rising is more powerful than the thunder over the mountains. or the unchanged sea. let our voices reach the bedrooms of san francisco. the streets and the alleys for the homeless women and the poor. let our voices reach the worlds

of violated and murdered women and the women that continue to be endangered by war and men who are haters. i am honored to be invited to read my hero's poem, eve ensler entitled rising. this was written for the women in india who lead the way. this could have been anywhere and was. mexico city. manila. manhattan. night-time men waiting like wolves, drooling for prey. paying nothing but a couple of dollars or euros or pesos to have her. enter her. eat her. and devour her and throw away

her bones. this could have been anywhere and was. a buddhist trying to stay dry for the night. a woman leader speaking out against a repressive government. a young woman traveling with her boyfriend. one lost her voice, the other her following. the last one her life. this could have been anymore and was. pink wooden crosses, a stack of stones. red wilting coronations. empty chairs in a square. ribbons swaying in a sultry wind. i ask anna and nehat, and monique and emily, why? why?

[speaking foreign language] >> because they were women. because they were women. this could have been anywhere. and was. for she got fired for being too beautiful. fined for drinking after he was raped. a serious offer to marry her rapist. got told it was legitimate but not enforceable. this could have been anywhere. they could do such a thing when the girls go for fire wood. step into a lonely man's car. drink a little too much at the college party. wake up with their uncle's finger inside. run from the screaming machetes and guns. taken at sunrise, get a bullet in the brain for learning the alphabet. be stoned for falling in love.

be burned for seeing the future. i am done cataloging these horrors. two million women raped and tortured. one out of three. a woman raped every minute. every second. one out of two. one out of five. the same. one. one. one. i am done counting. and recounting. it is time to tell a new story. it needs to be our story. it needs to be outrageous and unexpected. it needs to lose control in the middle. it needs to be sexy. and in our hips and our feet. it needs to be angry. and a little scary. the way that storms can be scary. it needs not to ask permission.

or to get permits or to set up offices. or to make salaries. it won't be recorded or bought or sold. or counted. it needs to just happen. it's not a question of inventing but remembering. buried under the trauma and sorr sorrow, and beneath the semen. vagina and labios shredded and retract retracted. it's not about asking and waiting. it's about rising. raise your arms, my sister, my brother. raise your one billion. your one heart.

you're one of us. i used to be afraid of love. it hurt too much. what never happened or got ripped away. the rape. the wounds. and love. i thought it was (inaudible). but i was wrong. i was wrong. step into the fire. raise your arms. raise your one billion. one. one. one. rising. rising. rising. rising. yeah! >> one more story, one of many millions that happen every day. and i bet each one of us know an example. a real experience like this.

so we can stop that. and we are here because of susan b. anthony. she had a dream as well. one billion rising. san francisco is closing this world-wide event. and we are going to do a dancing. for right now i would love to bring back to the stage here to the microphone, mayor lee for the pledge. we have to get committed. >> are we ready for pledge? if i can ask all of you raise the hand with the one billion. and repeat after me: i am one of the one billion rising. and i pledge that today,

february 14, 2013, i will make violence against women and girls a priority of our time. and help to end it in my family. my school. my workplace. my community. and in san francisco, california and beyond. one billion rising. thank you all very much. if you can, now turn to the person next to you and tell them out loud your personal pledge.

>> so you want to dance? i didn't hear you. you want to dance? one billion rising. one billion rising. let the world hear you. one billion rising. we are closing this moment. one billion rising. let the music begin. thank you very much for being here and joining us. i will ask a